Robert R. Prentis

Who was Robert R. Prentis?

Robert Riddick Prentis was born at the University of Virginia where his father was proctor of the university. His education was very scant because of the death of his father while Robert was still a boy. When just a very young man, he worked for a short time in the clerk’s office in Albemarle County, Virginia and from there entered the University of Virginia in 1875. After graduating with a law degree, he opened a law office in Charlottesville in 1876. In 1878, however, he moved to Norfolk. An opportunity to practice with A.C. Withers was accepted in 1880 and Prentis moved to Suffolk, which was his home for the rest of his life.

His first political office was as Mayor of Suffolk from 1883 to 1885. In 1894, he was elected Judge of the First Judicial Circuit of Virginia. He held that position until 1907 when he was appointed a member of the State Corporation Commission. In December 1916, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals and, on March 10, 1926, became its first “Chief Justice”. Prior to this, the judge longest in continuous service was called “President” of the court. He was on the court until his death in 1931.

Robert R.